Armport for respirators and the like



Oct. 19, 1954 F. T. WALLIN 2,691,977

ARMPORT FOR RESPIRATORS AND THE LIKE Filed June 10, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

W Wf/ 1954 F. T. WALLIN ARMPORT FOR RESPIRATORSAND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 10, 1952 FIG. E

INVENTOR. IQflC/S 7 Vl/Ah BY Patented Oct. 19, 1954 OFFICE ARMPORT FOR RESPIRAT'ORS AND THE LIKE Francis Cl.x Wallin, Bro'okline, Mass. Application J1me 10-, 1952, Serial No. 292,680

8 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to an armport. for a respirator or for any other type of device where there is a wall opening which must be substantially sealed at timesbut which must provide easy access without exposing the opening to any great degree when the seal is opened andv the arm isinserted in the opening.

While the present invention finds great application to respirators and other such devices, it will be noted that it is useful in any type of device where the: functioning of the device as is described is desired. It may be used for a port an enclosed container in experimental laboratories, or in a wall which has different fluid pressures on each side and in a wider application itmay be used as an adjustable collar for a great number. of purposes.

One of the chief advantages of the device of the present invention is that it is simple to operate and does not interfere with a person's arm freedom even though it surrounds the arm and seals itself about the arm.

A further advantage of the: device herein disclosed is that it may readily be renewed or that the flexible sleeve element may be readily renewed or removed for cleaning and other purposes.

Other merits and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly seen. from the description in the specification below, when taken inconnection withthe drawings showing an embodiment of. the invention, in which:

Figure 1 shows an elevation of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows aplan view of the device of Figure 1 on a reduced scale, and

Figure 3 shows a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2- Figure 4 shows in perspective a view of a flexible sleeve forming a part of the; invention.

Figure 5 shows a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4, and

Figure 6' shows a plan view of a detail.

Referring to the drawings, I represents a port plate which has a flange 2 formed to fit the wall of the respirator which is provided with suitable clamping screws or nuts, not shown, which preferably go through the wall of the respirator and threads into the flange by means of whichv the whole arm port assembly is held to the respirator. A suitable air tight gasket 3 may be placed between the clamping flange 2 and. the side wall of the respirator or other device to which the arm port is attached. The. arm port is also provided with a collar or neck 4, which may be integral 2 with they flange 2'- and' which extends backward from the flange. This sleeve has: attached to it and also formed as an integral part, an outwardly extending flange or ring plate 5 positioned between the back end of the sleeve or port 4 where it joins the flange 2 and the forward end of the sleeve 4 which terminates in an outwardly extending small flange or rib- 6.

This assembly just described is permanently fixed in position when it is attached to the respirator or wall to which the port plate is clamped.

Rotatably mounted on the flange 5 is a ring plate I which comprises a plate ring section 8 concentrically positioned with respect to the port opening or sleeve 4, facing and fitting on the flange 5. The ring plate 1 is provided with a downwardly extending rim 9 substantially at: right, angles to the plane of the ring or plate 8, which rim may be provided with one or more handles H), by means of which the ring plate 1 is turned, for the purpose of closing the arm port. The ring plate is retained in place bymeans: of a plurality of spaced retaining fingers H which are formed with a channel section terminating in aninwardly projecting finger or arm l2 bearing against the underside of the ring 5. A suitable machine screw i3 passing through the outside portion of the channel II and threaded into the rim 9, holds the clamping element I! in place. The ring section 8 terminates at its top end in a channel [4' which is provided with a flange l5 extending outwardly substantially parallel with the ring plate section 8 although this flange may be turned upward or downward without altering its utility in operation. The same also applies to the flange- 6; There are fitted over both of these ring flanges which are concentric one with the other, rubber shells l6 and I! which hug the flange, forming a protective layer and also providing a frictional surface.

The opening of the flange I! is substantially the same as that of the port opening 4, while the opening of the flange I 6 is somewhat larger.

All of these rubber channel rings are fitted with a plastic sleeve or shell l8. This plastic sleeve or shell may be made of any suitable durable, flexible plastic material such as a vinyl sheeting or it may be made of a woven fabric made air tight by plastic impregnation, or it may be made of thin rubber sheeting or rubberized cloth. The purpose is that the sleeve shall have great flexibility, be light in weight, easy to handl and preferably should have a reasonable amount of stretch without permanent deformation. This vsleeve or shell is constructed in the following a manner, as more clearly indicated in Figures 4 and 5.

At one end there is attached by stitching, cement, or other suitable process, an elastic tape or band l9 which may be rubberized elastic tape such as used in garment construction for garters and so forth or any other tape or strip elastic material which is durable and capable of reasonably stretching without deformation in a ratio of approximately two to one or more. The tape i9 is stretched around one end of the sleeve IS in such a manner that the material is covered as indicated by the covering 29. This covering should be such as to provide approximately at least double the opening without stretching the plastic sleeve or sheeting. The sleeve is also covered at the other end and finished with a suitable elastic tape 2| to a size which is smaller than that of the tape IS. The opening of the tape 2| may be anywhere from one-half the diameter of the opening of the tape i9 up to approximately three-quarters or a little more of this size. One of the chief tests is that the tape i9 when snugly assembled should fit snugly over the rubber channel member IS in such a manner that the end will not slip or readily be pulled out even when the port is turned up tightly as will be explained below.

Between the ends i9 and 2!, the sleeve is gathered as indicated by the gatherings 22 and 23. In fact the sleeve portion 24 from the gathering 2G to the gathering 22 may be a separate sleeve section from the portion 25 extending from the gathering 23 to the tape 2| in which case the sleeve section 25 may be made slightly smaller in diameter if desired. The gathering at 22 and 23 is effected by means of an elastic tape 26 which pinches the sections 22 and 23 together in such a way to form a gathering or pleating. The elastic tape 28 may be stitched or cemented in any of the usual ways about the sleeve. The provides a stretchable section at tape 26 which acts similarly to the finishing tape H3 at the top end. The normal diameter of the sleeve in the section where the sleeve is gathered at the tape 26 is less than that in the top section where the tape Hi is. The sleeve at the tape 26 is adapted to hug snugly the inner rubber covering channel I! over the end of the sleeve or collar section t. When the plastic sleeve is put over the arm port, the taped opening indicated by 2| in Figure 4 is free. The tape 26 inbetween the ends of the sleeve goes over the inner fixed sleeve opening by hugging the outside of the channel member 6 and the tape member i9 hugs the outer rubber flange covering l5.

As will be noted in Figure 3, the tape 2| at the end is not attached to the other flange and this part is therefore free. The middle section however between the tapes 26 and IQ stands upwards in the region 21 so that when the handle I is rotated with respect to the fixed ring 5, this section will reduce in size and finally close, securely sealing the whole port opening.

When it is desired to reach in the opening, as for instance, a respirator, the handle Ill is turned, opening up the sleeve and then the operator inserts his arm through the opening at the tape 2| which will temporarily seal the port when the arm is inserted through this ring. The round opening formed by tape 2| for that reason should be of such an opening size that it will hug the arm when put through it.

The section 25 should be sufliciently long so 4 as to permit the arm to move freely inside the respirator.

If desired the handle i0 may be turned to close the section 21 over the arm, if greater air sealing is necessary. However the seal effected by the tape 2| is sufficient for most purposes when the arm is put through the port.

A clamping tab 28 attached to the rim 9 by means of a screw 36 has an extending arm 29, which when the movable plate 8 is turned, will pass under the U-shaped spring finger 3| which is attached to the underside of the flange plate 5 by means of a small clamping plate 32 with a screw stud 33 which screws into the underside of the plate 5. This will hold the port in closed position wherein the section 2! comes together at the center of the port forming a complete closure for it.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. An arm port for a respirator or the like, comprising a port plate, a second plate rotatably positioned with respect thereto, each plate having concentric openings, a yielding flexible sleeve member having one end fitting closely around one opening, a section between the ends fitting closely around the other opening and the other end free said other free end having elastic means tending to contract its opening.

2. An arm port for a respirator or the like, comprising a port plate adapted to be fixed over an arm opening in a respirator, a second plate rotatably secured with respect to the first plate, each plate having concentric openings, a yielding, flexible sleeve member having open ends gathered with an elastic flexible binding tape and a section between the ends similarly gathered with an elastic flexible binding tape, the section between the ends fitting closely around the opening in' the port plate and the binding tape at one end fitting closely around an opening in the second plate.

3. In an arm port for a respirator, a yielding, flexible sleeve member having open ends gathered with flexible elastic binding tape and a section between the ends similarly gathered with a flexible binding tape, the section between the ends adapted to fit closely around the opening in the port plate of the respirator and one of the other ends adapted to fit around an opening in another plate of the arm port.

4. In an arm port for a respirator, a flexible, yielding plastic sleeve member gathered at each end with an elastic binding tape forming a smaller opening than the normal diameter of the sleeve and a third elastic binding tape gathered about a section between the ends also binding the sleeve in said section to normally smallre diameter than the normal diameter of the sleeve.

5. A flexible, yielding, plastic sleeve as described in claim 4, in which one end opening has normally a larger diameter than the other end opening and also a larger diameter than the bound section of the sleeve between the two open ends.

6. An arm port for a respirator or the like, comprising a port plate having a flange member attachable to the respirator and a sleeve member terminated on the outside with a small outwardly extending flange, a second port plate member, means for rotatably mounting said two members concentrically one with the other, said second port plate member having an outward ly extending flange concentric with the flange in the first port plate member, a yielding, flexible sleeve member having open ends, each gathered with an elastic, flexible binding tape and a section in between the ends similarly gathered with an elastic flexible binding tape, said section between the ends fitting over the opening in one end of the first mentioned sleeve member and one of the flexible sleeve members fitting over the opening in the other of said port plates.

7. An arm port for a respirator or the like, comprising a port plate consisting of a sleeve having at one end a flange fitting against the respirator, the other end of said sleeve terminating in a short flange, a second outwardly extending flange extending outwardly from said sleeve between the previously mentioned flanges, a second port plate having a flange ring fitting over the last mentioned outwardly extending flange and resting thereon, said flange ring having a short sleeve section with a terminating flange concentrically positioned with respect to the first short flange means retaining said second port plate in rotatable movement with the first port plate and a yielding flexible sleeve member having the opening at one end secured around one of said short terminal flanges and another section of the flexible sleeve secured around the other of said short terminal flanges.

8. A device as set forth in the preceding claim in which locking means are provided between the first port plate and the second plate for locking the two plates together when the flexible sleeve member has closed the port opening.

Name Date Wallin Aug. 9, 1949 Number 

